Overlooking Soye

Go to the Place de l'Europe (V) in Soye. You leave with the church of Saint-Amandus on your left and pass in front of the cemetery until the first quadrilateral. There you turn right and walk along the edge of the Bois de Soye for a long time. On the right you get a nice panorama. At the end of the rural paved road, you come to a crossroads. Follow the paved road on the right until the junction with the crossing of the field. There too, you turn right and at five jumps, you walk left into the street of Spy. Then take rue de l'Oliviat on the right. Follow this narrow paved road with fields on the left until you can walk on a country road in front of house number 13, to the left of a warehouse. Follow it between the fields to a fork. At the mountain bike trail signposted post, take the hairpin bend to the right and continue walking on a grass path. The road becomes hollow for a while. You cross a log bridge and walk along a stream until you reach the bend of an asphalt road next to a house. Walk right until you can take a country road in front of the White House with house number 13 on the left. You walk next to a beautiful garden and walk further between the fields to a T. Here too there is a pole with signage of mountain bike trails. Walk left, direction Bois de Namur, until you reach a wide gravel road. On the right, it is reserved for local traffic, on the left for residents and suppliers. Turn left and immediately turn right with the gravel road. You pass a house and the road becomes narrower, hollow, rougher and steeper. You drive through an area of Aviaqua, lined with white poles, and climb further past a pumping station almost to the top of the mountain. And yes, there is a pole with signage of mountain bike trails. Turn right here and descend on a beautiful forest path. Leave a rising forest road on the right and you will have a beautiful view of the valley and the hills on the other side of the valley between the trees. Go further and pass the closed area of Aviaqua again. You find yourself on a country road and follow it to the right. On the left a beautiful panorama with Floriffoux and behind you you can see the Château du Pavillon 1 on the slope. This former hunting lodge from the 17th century was transformed into a castle in the early 30s of the last century. On the T, follow the paved road on the right and take the narrow path next to the field on the left, just before the first house. It climbs gently and you continue walking along the edge of the forest, with a nice panorama on the right. You find yourself on a narrow paved road and follow it to the right until you reach a five-pointer. Take Rue de Floriffoux on the right, ignore Rue du Vivier and continue walking to the intersection with the Croix de Mission and the Chapelle Notre-Dame des Affligés (Hopeless)2. It was built in 1872 by the annuitant Jacques Verly. The chapel says 1879, but the 9 is actually a damaged 2. It was once the Oak of Justice, on which the condemned were attached. Turn left and at the fork left, take Rue du Chêne à la Justice. Follow it until, just before a solitary oak tree, you can take the first country road on the right. You walk on a grassy path between fields and meadows and enjoy a 360 ° panorama. On the left, behind the trees, is the Etang du Rissart[3]. This pond belonged to the abbey of Floreffe from 1313 to 1795. The path becomes narrower and you go from a meadow to a large garden to a church path. Walk left between roads. It opens onto the elbow of the Jodenstraat. You turn right, cross the Roelbeek and arrive at the Heerbaan: turn left here. Be careful, the Heerbaan swings to the left behind a fenced grove and seems to leave the main road, you swing. In a dog boarding house you cross the Roelstraat and stay on the Heerbaan. Again, ignore all secondary roads. On the left are the notable buildings of NV Biofer 3. This company produces biogas by fermenting manure and organic waste, after which the gas is converted into green electricity. An establishment for which the residents raise their noses with a little contempt, because of the olfactory nuisance some days. On the Hulstbergstraat you always walk straight. The next intersection is a five-lane street, where you turn left. This rising concrete road forms the border between Zoutleeuw and Geetbets, hence the two names: Halstraat (right) and Hogenstraat (left). At the fork, you keep left. At the modernist church of Hogen 4 you walk diagonally. In the next long bend, at a symbolic apple and pear in stacked vowels, you leave the road by the cobblestones, straight. You rise between the apples and pears until you reach the comb, which forms the separation between the Velpe and Gete basins. At the top of the intersection, turn left. At the next intersection, zigzag right/left and choose Ketelstraat. It offers some Hageland panoramas to the north along the way. Stay four poles and walk to the pond. Take the wide grass path on the right. The path turns asphalt beyond the fence and at the fork turn right into Rue de la Vignette. At the end you follow the castle estate wall to the right to the Place de l'Europe. On the left is the castle of Soye (1663) 4, with castle farm. In the tower of the chapel on the right is a statue of the patron saint Saint Amandus